♪ >> authorities in china have confirmed the death toll from the coronavirus has reached at least 170. officials say over 7700 cases is confirmed in each region. for evacuees they have been remomoved from the worst hit region of wuhan. the who s said it is greatly concerned the disease has begun spreading between people outside of chana -- china. 15 countries that have reported cases they have just

stop transmission. they need assistance with lab and other expertise. we are doing that from who but the whole world needs to be on alert. they need to take action and be readady for any caseses thatat . >> staying with the coronavirus, russia confirmed it has shut its borders with china and temporarily stop issuing electronic visas to chinese nationals. an battle to contain the coronavirus members of the stars outbreak have -- sars outbreak has surfaced. valerie has more. the diseasese was spreading far and wide. sarswe know now as the epidemic killed many people. as chinana battles the coronavis health expert seseem to agree tt chchina has come a a long way. >> i will prpraise china again d

again because it's actions ofped in reducing the spread coronavirus to other countries. oututbreakhe sars china was accused of covering up the virus and disclosing information to the public for months after the fact and delaying an international response. fast forward to today, it took less than one month for china to identify the virus and share its genetic sequence with health authorities around the world. the e epidemic w was alsaa catat for change i in china's medidicl syststem. health officiaials used to reporting infectious diseases fillining in carts by hand befoe sending them to the office. china has heavily invested in a modern disease surveillance system in which cases can be reported in real time. while beijing is priced abroad

authorities have come under fire atat home for the apparent lackf medical personnel and supplies. the government has been quick to silence its critics online. t them toent using boast public opinion. international expert saying there is no guarantee the country has underreported the scale of the epidemic. >> some 6000 people are being kept on board and italian cruise ship as tessa carried out onto tiny -- chinese passengers.. the couple reportedly came down with a fever and are suffering from breathing difficulties. and visitited marseille barcelona before ducking north ng north of rome on thursday.

brussels has overwhelmingly voted back the terms of britain's departure from the eu. that is paving the way for britain to quit the block. they bid farewell to british colleagues. ♪ holding hands and singing members of the european parliament bid farewell to their 73 colleagues from the united kingdom. the moment of the emotional debate and a vote on the brexit for.with 621 votes they gave the final green light to the withdrawal meant -- withdrawal agreement. [speaking foreign language] > we are saddened that we have come to this point i in timeme. 50 years of integration cannot

be dissolved easily. all of us will have to work hard to build a new relationship. >> earlier in the day there were also moments that left a bittetr aftetertaste. >> i know you are going to miss us. i know you want to ban our national flags. -- hiscrophone cuts off microphone cuts off mid speech. rules, youisobey the get cut off. please remove the flag. >> with the status quo trtransition running only until the year end, brexit relations are going to start soon. the head of the european committee gave warm words but also warnings. >> we are considering a free-trade agreement with zero but the precondition is that european and british businesses continue to compete

on a level playing field. >> after the exit, the parliament will be reduced to 705 with 27 of the seats reallocated to other member states. brexit is likely to affect french towns. they worked as city counselors, some for decades. the british nationals will not be able to run for also -- office or vote. they are dreading a return to great britain. this village in normandy has 216 residents. a quarter of them are british. that is why town counselors like patrick had are so valuable -- patrick head are so valuable. to those been a link

who know little about local law. >> [speaking foreigngn langugua] when you come from a different culture you are not certain you got things right. reporter: city halls will lose people like patrick because they're not french. british nationals have been allowed to run for local elections except f for the may'' position since 2001. their work was much appreciated. overall there are 757 of them. now they can't run and they cannot even vote. small towns worry that some british residents would head back home. >> [speaking foreign language] over the past 20 years british parentnt -- families arrived hee after french residents left. reporter: same story in southwestern france and area appreciated by u.k. nationals who are now fearful over the future. they have paid their taxes here for years or decades. will they still be entitled to

healthth and social benenefits r brexit? >> [speaking foreign language] i feel isolated and abandoned. reporter: there are ways to remain in france and to run again for office. these presidents can try -- residents can try and apply for french citizenship. >> u.s. senator's are debating whether witnesses should be calllled the president trurump's impeachment tririal ahead of the key vote that will take place friday. taking center stage is t the urgent queststion on whether the formerer national security advisor, john bolton, should testify. they are trying to contain the fallout about his forthcoming book. reporter: a fight that is intensifying by the day as u.s. senator's conducting the impeachment trial push for an appearance by john bolton. aboutto the revelations his knowledge regarding the

ukraine scandal the white house assumes the trial could be wrapped up without witnesses. the national security council said the information contained in bolton's book could not be published due to the classified nature. democrats are pushing to subpoena bolton saying that his memoir corroborates the abuse of power charge. >> there is no way to have a fair trial without witnesses and when you have a witness is plainly relevant as john bolton, who goes to the heart of the most serious and egregious of the president's misconduct, was volunteered to come and testify to turn him away to look k the other way, i think it is deeply at odds with being an impartial juror. if you have any question about heart all, you neneed to from his former national security advisor. don't wait for the book. reporter: in response to the ststatement jojohn bolton's lawr

released a letter saying that none of the information in the book should be considered classified. bolton allegedly writes the president personally told him in august that freeze in military aid was linked to his demand that they announce into investigations. netanyahu is in moscow with talks to his russian counterparts. he arrived thursday and is there to discuss t the u.s.-mimiddle t peace plan and taken israeli woman back home. he visited washington were president trump unveiled his long-awaited middle piece -- middle east peace plan which he calllled the deal of the centur. we will bring you more on this. france 24's theo is standing by. alk us through netanyahu's

reason for being inn moscow.w. >> the reason he said he is here is to fill putin in on the details of the peace plan. phrase whenp's describing the plan. he also called the deal of the century and said he hopes putin would find a lot to like their. we will see. he is also here for domestic political reasons. he has come to bring home the blogger who has been in russian jail since last year on drug charges a after a small amount f cannabis was found in her checkedd luggage whehen she waws going rougugh a moscow air. that has been a big story. netanyahu has personally campaigned for her release. it is a big winin for him that putin said he would grant her a

presidential pardon and not know if you -- netanyahu would be able too come home witith her hd of fresh elections in israel later this year. >> that is why he is there. this does concern russia's increasing role when it comes to the middle east. concerns itsure it role. its role has been shut outut prprocess with trump's middle et peace plan with almost everybody else. it is a u.s. led and written plan. putitin himself has not commentd on the plan at all so far but we know from the russian foreign ministererergei lavrov it has not gone down too well in moscow. he is criticized the fact majojo players were not consulted for the plan was announced and said the radical plans like this

don't often work. you are right. russia has beeeen playing an increasing role in the middle east in recent years. we have seen thahat in syria, libya, iran. that will certainly be wanting to get involved in some way. israel is probably the way to do it because they have been playing the go-between betwtween washington and moscow for the last few years. after thee meeting we wiwill fid out whether russia will get in on this. >> keeping us up-to-date on an yahoo!'s visit -- keeping us up-t-to-date on netanyahu's vis. man u macron accused turkey -- macron accused turkey of sending ships to the nation. france was that

responsible for the crisis in libya. emerald has the details. reporter: they had found earlier this month to stay out of the libyan conflict. the french president is accusing turkish counterparts of breaking his word by continuing to metal. >> [speaking foreign language] these past few days we have seen turkish ships accompanied by syrian mercenaries arrived on libyan soil. >> [speaking foreign language] this is explicit ininfringement about what wasas agreed upon. eroding the cease fire which turkey supports and the .ibyan arab armed forces they control much of the south

and east of the country. turkey put the blame for the instability on france. gave -- no secret they reporter: they are denying they support.pport -- lent countriesaid several had violated the arms embargo in libya. erdogan insisted turkey's involvement was not a combat force. saysyrian observatory hundreds of syrian rebels joined the fighting on the side of the tripoli based government. voteance is gearing up to in a municipal election in over a month. the vote will see citizens elect local mayors. things are not looking promising for president macron.

philip explains mark about what the elections signify. reporter: they are the guarantors of cities and towns. they are elected for six years. there?y mares are the number of voters is 47 million. mayor'ss are able to marry people and give signature to presidential candidates so they can be elected. they need 500 signatures of elected officials for that to happen. age or the number of terms they have. i've extreme their figures. is 97dest mayor in france years old and is trying to seek a new mandate.

been mayor since 1971. eastongest mayor is in the and has been there since 1959. want to keep going to be mayor for another term. we come back to the local elections, is it about a litmus test or are they just local elections? >> as you can see by the people who have been mayors for years it is a local contest. once they are mayor they are quite difficult to get rid of. doing ablic may be national opinion poll. partyght wing republican is on 30.5%. and 11% for the socialist. that does not translate when you

get to the municipal elections where a lot of mayors have 11%, or from the far-left, are not even figuring in that opinion poll. they are sure to be reelected. that means even though the government of macron is trying to put its own candidates there they are not really sure they will be elected. people are saying they will not vote for a candidate who is from a a politicacal party. 25% said they may not vote at all. in a move triggering anger the new movie an officer and despite has topped the box office. the director has been wanted in the u.s. the statutory rate of a -- rape of a 13-year-old girl. his drama about the dreyfus and for emerald has more.

reporter: the academymy was unapologetic c claiming it was t its job to take moral positions when giving awards. many disagree.e. >> [speakingng foreign lanangua] the french film industry has a longng way to go on sexism and sexual violence. i find it shocking we are celebrating a person accused of rape by several women. reporter: the director has received nominations for his drama an officer and despite. ire to be feminist says there number of women who accuse him of rape. they are going to protest outside the ceremony. rape charges in the u.s. in 19 somededay. -- 1 1978.

allegations and they did not stop the film from being a hit at the french box office. the ceremony m may be uncomfortable for him though. he could share the stage with the best actress nominee who claimed she had been sexually harassed by another director when she was 12 years old. a qck remindeder of the top stories we are folollowing. chinese authorities confirmed the death toll from the coronavirus has reached 170. thee whoho says it is concernede disease has begun spreading outside of china. inemotional farewell goodbye to they say the bertens -- britains. benjamin netanyahu is discussing the white house's middle e east

plan. a change of pace for you nowow. i am joined by catherine bennett. one day to go before brexit. some disappointing figures coming out of the carar industr. >> they are coming with a strict warning. the output fell to its lowest in almost a decade. tumbled 14.2% in 2019. it is s e third consecutive year of decline.. they said brerexit uncecertainty had played a role. the majority of experts were going to the european union and the sector reiterated the importance of frictionless trade with its closest neighbor. deal.leave europe with no no deal does not just mean how

we leave it is about the trade deal lost. the second phase is critical not much of us but for so the u.k. business. deal, itp no trading would undermine the competitors of the industry. >> they're going to o exit the european union tomorrow and border officials are getting ready to put customs in place. british truck drivers will have to adapt to some new rules. >> [speaking foreign language] >> commercrcial trucksks like ts are among the 5 million a year that crossed the english channel. custom agents are going about their usual jobs. once brexit is enacted all

cocommercial vehicles from the u.k. will have to go through a new process. if they do not meet the guidelines, they may be forced to park and wait for an inspection. >> [speaking foreign language] thanks to a small prprocess drivers can make customs declarations before arriving while the truck is on the ferry. >> once drivers make their declarations t they will receiva text messasage letting themm knw if they can leave port or if they will have to pull over for further checks. >> [speaking foreign language] there are coded colors. green or orange will let them know if they have to park in the waiting zone so they can undergo an inspection. >> the new technology as part of . 50 million euro plan that includes the salary of french border agents. it's helping -- hoping that t it is money w well spentnt. >> the u.k. said that the chinese company huawei will have

a limited role in the 5g network rollout. it is imposing a 35% market share cap on the use of equipment. a decision that could hurt british businesses. telecom said that enforcing the limit will cost 500 million pounds over the next five years. that will come in 2023 which is earlier than predicted and companies like bt are scrambling to exist -- replace huawei equipment. a number of international companies have shut down operation in china is the corona virus continues to impact economy. they demand the airline stop flying to china. cabin crew can refuse to work on china flights. we take a look at how global businesses responding. from air travel to retail as the world's second-largest economy struggles

to contain the coronavirus international businesses are feeling the pain. check-in encounters at beijing capital airport are empty after british airways suspended all flights to and from mainland china. several other airlines have cut back service. >> [speaking foreign language] contamination i think it is better to cancel international flights. it iser: starbucks says expecting a big financial hit after closing more than half of its 4300 stores in china. it second-biggest market after the u.s. apple ceo told investors the company is t ting to makake up r specter production loss. it would keep operations closed until february 10. between $63 billion and $67 billion. the longer factories and

businesses and businesses in china remain closed the more production will be affected to. this will ripple out to suppliers and customers outside china. with uncertainties ahead many expect the outbreaks to cut the growth rate in halflf during the first quarter. >> the bank of england decided to keep interest rates steady at seven point 0505%. -- 7.05%. it/growtwth estimates to the brg you wnwn too. let's have a look at the markets in europe. european markets opened lower taking the cue from m asia. there has not been much change since the open. dax is down. a japanese billingng or abandon his s search for love -- billioionaire abandonehihis seah for love. he invited o one lucky woman too join him in elon m musk's flight

around the moon. it was due to logic 2023 and for a chance to be womemen would had to participate in the tv show called full moon lovers. space travelers can put away their men boots.

- hey, i'm valerie june.e. coming u up on reel south . in 1964, a band of blues hounds traveled sout - [m] ] i me, mimisssippi,i, for young ite people who might've ce e from nenew gland oraliforornia wareallylyike a neworl you couldn i imagi it. - - [valie] theione go, to sni out eay legendof the missisppi blues. - [woman] they h t the rordsds, theyeyad the rordis. bubuthere was still so mumuch wdidndn'tnonow. - an] if tre wasasny chance ofof tse peoeoe still beg alive, itas w wor whatetever effort whad to p in to get them in front of a micphone again. ♪ fight tra, freigh trai runnin'o fast ♪ - [valieie] hih a a ri on two trains runnin'n'. ♪ freightrarain, eighght traiai runnin' so fast ♪